A 13-year-old boy who fell into a sewer pipe system at Los Angeles’ Griffith Park has been found alive after a 13-hour search through the night.
A 13-year-old boy who fell into a sewer pipe system at Los Angeles’ Griffith Park has been found alive after a 13-hour search through the night.
The boy, Jesse Hernandez, was located in the pipe system about a mile east of where he fell Sunday during a family Easter celebration at the sprawling urban park between the San Fernando Valley and Hollywood. He was found near a site where the 134 Freeway passes underneath the 5 Freeway.
Fire officials said Hernandez was « alive and talking. » Fire Capt. Erik Scott said sanitation workers played a major role in finding Jesse.
« It’s with happy hearts that all Los Angeles city agencies are able to state, we have found Jesse Hernandez, » said Scott. « As you can see, all of these players here have come together… to make this successful. »
Sanitation workers opened an access point to place a closed-circuit camera in the pipe and saw Jesse, Scott said. Fire-rescue team members arrived to provide immediate medical aid and transport him to a hospital. He was given a cell phone so he could speak with his parents, whom Scott described as « overwhelmed » with joy.
An « extensive » multi-agency search by air and on the ground continued overnight after Hernandez fell about 25 feet into a drainage system. More than 100 firefighters from the Los Angeles Fire Department were on scene at 5254 West Zoo Dr. in Hollywood around 4:30 p.m. after witnesses reported the fall.
